Beyonce: Gender equality is a myth

In 2014, there's been no denying Beyonce's power. Pop culture's royal highness has continued a remarkable life and career...

Hide Caption

1 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

In 1998, Beyonce, second from right, was known simply as another member of Destiny's Child, a four-member girl group who released a self-titled debut that year and had a breakthrough with the remix of their single "No, No, No, No."

Hide Caption

2 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

Beyonce performs with Kelly Rowland, left, and Michelle Williams -- the final version of the group that put her on the map -- for President-elect George W. Bush during a pre-inaugural event in Washington on January 19, 2001.

Hide Caption

3 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

When Beyonce took the stage in Melbourne on April 29, 2002, she was just a year away from releasing her first solo album, "Dangerously In Love."

Hide Caption

4 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

In November 2002, before they tied the knot, Jay Z and Beyonce fueled rumors that they were dating by becoming musical collaborators. Beyoncé appeared on Jay Z's 2002 single "03 Bonnie & Clyde," and he appeared on her single "Crazy In Love" the following summer.

Hide Caption

5 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

A decade before she wowed viewers at the 2013 Super Bowl Halftime Show, Bey jammed with Carlos Santana during the Super Bowl XXXVII Pregame Show in San Diego on January 26, 2003.

Hide Caption

6 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

Having stepped out on her own, Beyonce presents the humanitarian award to Michael Jackson at the 2003 Radio Music Awards in Las Vegas on October 27, 2003.

Hide Caption

7 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

The singer is affectionately referred to as Queen Bey, not in the least because of her heralded work ethic, which is often put to good use on stage. Here, she performs during the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards in New York on August 28, 2003.

Hide Caption

8 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

Beyonce was right back at the Super Bowl in 2004, performing the national anthem to kick off Super Bowl XXXVIII on February 1.

Hide Caption

9 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

At the 46th Grammy Awards Show in February 2004, she joined Prince on stage to perform a medley of his hits. She left the ceremony with five Grammys in hand.

Hide Caption

10 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

Although her solo career had taken off by 2005, Beyonce still performed with Destiny's Child that year in Sydney on the heels of their 2004 album, "Destiny Fulfilled."

Hide Caption

11 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

After releasing another best-seller with 2006's "B'Day" and starring in "Dreamgirls" that same year, Beyonce was readying to release a third solo album, "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" when she took the stage at the 50th Grammy Awards Show on February 10, 2008. Somehow, she snuck in a secret marriage to Jay Z that April.

Hide Caption

12 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

Beyonce during the filming of her hugely popular music video "Single Ladies (Put A Ring on It)."

Hide Caption

13 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

In 2011, Beyonce stole the show at the MTV Video Music Awards when she walked the red carpet and, with the careful placement of her hands, revealed that she was expecting. The star and husband Jay welcomed Blue Ivy in January 2012.

Hide Caption

14 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

When Beyonce's daughter with Jay Z, Blue Ivy, was born in 2012, the couple shared a photo of their newborn on their website. A hand-written note accompanying the photos reads, "We welcome you to share our joy."

Hide Caption

15 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

Just months after giving birth, Beyonce was red-carpet ready at the Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on May 7, 2012.

Hide Caption

16 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

Beyonce found herself at the center a firestorm in 2013 after it was revealed she used a "backup track" to sing the national anthem at the inauguration of President Barack Obama on January 21.

Hide Caption

17 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

After the inauguration dust-up, Beyonce had something to prove when she held a news conference for her Pepsi Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show on January 31. After belting out "The Star-Spangled Banner," the singer paused and turned to the press and asked: "Any questions?"

Hide Caption

18 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

Kelly Rowland, Beyonce and Michelle Williams reunited as Destiny's Child to perform during the Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show on February 3, 2013, in New Orleans.

Hide Caption

19 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

In early April 2013, the singer and her husband were once again the subject of critical headlines when they took a trip to Cuba to celebrate their fifth anniversary.

Hide Caption

20 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

In May 2013, Beyonce was the subject of pregnancy rumors as observers noted that her dress to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Gala conveniently covered her midsection. The speculation grew stronger after she had to cancel a concert due to exhaustion and dehydration. She denied that she was pregnant.

In December, Beyonce stunned fans by releasing a surprise "visual album." The project was well-received and shot to No. 1, spawning platinum hits like the single "Drunk In Love."

Hide Caption

23 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

Beyonce performs "Drunk in Love" at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on January 26.

Hide Caption

24 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

Time magazine has praised Beyonce as an industry tastemaker. In April, the magazine called Bey one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Hide Caption

25 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

Jay Z and his sister-in-law Solange Knowles, right, reportedly had an altercation at a Met Gala after-party at New York's Standard Hotel on May 5. Security camera footage that appeared on TMZ doesn't tell the whole story, but there are plenty of pictures of the rapper, Beyonce, and her sister leaving the party.

Hide Caption

26 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

After Jay Z's infamous scuffle with Beyonce's sister, the power couple faced numerous rumors that their relationship was on the rocks. But when they started their joint "On the Run" summer tour in Miami on June 25, they held a united front, playing their never-before-seen wedding video and showing footage of daughter Blue.

Hide Caption

27 of 28

Beyonce Knowles: Queen Bey28 photos

At the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, Beyonce was awarded with the Michael Jackson Vanguard Award, which is given to "exemplary musicians who have made an incredible and long-lasting impact on pop culture." The singer accepted the award on August 24 from her husband, Jay Z, and daughter, Blue Ivy.

The "average working woman earns only 77 percent of what the average working man makes. But unless women and men both say this is unacceptable, things will not change."

Humanity, she continues, "requires both men and women, and we are equally important and need one another. ... We have to teach our boys the rules of equality and respect, so that as they grow up, gender equality becomes a natural way of life. And we have to teach our girls that they can reach as high as humanly possible."

Beyonce: Becoming a businesswoman

Just Watched

Beyonce: The poster child for success

That's not to imply that Beyonce's pop music message doesn't have its conflicts. In the 1999 Destiny's Child song, "Bills, Bills, Bills," the lyrics scold a lover who's gone from footing the bill to asking for money. "Silly me, why haven't I found another," the song continues. "Can you pay my bills? ... If you did then maybe we could chill."

On the other hand, there are Destiny's Child anthems like "Independent Women," Parts I and II, with lyrics such as "I buy my own diamonds and I buy my own rings. ... Try to control me, boy you get dismissed," which became a nightclub rallying cry.

Given her prominence and success, her statements on womanhood and feminism are often a source of public debate.

Last April, Beyonce told British Vogue that she hesitated to call herself a feminist. (Katy Perry similarly ducked the designation while accepting 2012's Billboard Woman of the Year award, during which she said she's "not a feminist," but does "believe in the strength of women.")

The word feminist "can be very extreme," she told Vogue. "But I guess I am a modern-day feminist. I do believe in equality. Why do you have to choose what type of woman you are? Why do you have to label yourself anything? I'm just a woman and I love being a woman."

A woman, for the record, who celebrates the power of women -- that much is clear from her two most recent albums alone. On her 2011 disc "4" there was the self-assured "Who Run the World (Girls)?," in which she praises the power of women: "My persuasion/can build a nation .... (We're) smart enough to make these millions/strong enough to bear the children/then get back to business."

And her chart-topping surprise 2013 release, the self-titled "Beyonce," has been endlessly debated as a symbol of her feminist perspective -- or lack thereof.

In the song "***Flawless" from that album Beyonce samples words from celebrated writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's April 2013 TED Talk "We Should All Be Feminists."

"Because I am female, I am expected to aspire to marriage," Adichie says in the sample. "Marriage can be a source of joy and love and mutual support, but why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage, and we don't teach boys the same?"

In her piece for The Shriver Report, Beyonce echoes Adichie's perspective, saying "these old attitudes are drilled into us from the very beginning. ... Men have to demand that their wives, daughters, mothers, and sisters earn more -- commensurate with their qualifications and not their gender. Equality will be achieved when men and women are granted equal pay and equal respect."

The singer's contribution is one of many pieces that fill Shriver's report, which explores the rates of financial insecurity among American women, examines its impact, and offers solutions for change.